Attorney dumps Aurora dentist just before jury selection, delaying trial in high-profile poisoning case

The murder trial for an Aurora dentist accused of poisoning his wife was delayed Thursday after his attorney abruptly withdrew from the case just before jury selection was scheduled to begin.

Denver attorney Harvey Steinberg cited two rules of professional conduct as reasons for his departure from the case: one, that his client was persisting in a course of action that he “reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent,” and two, that his client was insisting on action he “considers repugnant or… has a fundamental disagreement (with),” according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Darren Vahle on Thursday granted Steinberg’s request to withdraw from the case. That left his former client, James Craig, 46, without representation on the morning his jury trial was set to begin.

Vahle delayed the trial, and Craig is due back in court on Dec. 16 to introduce a new attorney.

Steinberg declined to comment Thursday.

The former Aurora dentist is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Angela Craig, 43. She died March 18, 2023, from lethal doses of cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant found in over-the-counter eyedrops.

Investigators allege James Craig bought arsenic and cyanide days before his wife was poisoned to death, searched online about how to poison someone, was having an affair and faced financial difficulties.

He is also charged with tampering with evidence and accused of asking two different people — including his daughter — to cover up evidence in the case. The couple were married for more than two decades and shared six children, according to Angela Craig’s obituary.

Authorities believe James Craig poisoned his wife to death by first dosing her with arsenic, which sent her to the hospital, and then dosing her with cyanide.

He received an order of arsenic in the mail on March 4, 2023, and his wife was first hospitalized on March 6, 2023, prosecutors allege. When she recovered, he ordered more poison, and she was hospitalized again on March 15, 2023. She did not recover after the second hospitalization.

James Craig used a communal computer at his workplace in Summerbrook Dental in Aurora to search for information on poison in the weeks before Angela Craig’s death, police allege.

The searches included: “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human,” “Is Arsenic Detectable in Autopsy,” “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Signs of Foul Play,” “how to make poison,” and “The Top 10 Deadliest Plants (They Can Kill You),” according to his arrest affidavit.

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